If you’re a reader and a fan of the horror genre, then chances are you’ve read a zombie book of some sort; maybe more than one. In case you haven’t noticed, this living dead sub-genre simply won’t go away, as more and more zombie books are being churned out, to the point where most horror authors have now tried their writing hands at bringing an unlikely character back from the dead. In an earlier Book Banter Column I discussed the short history of the zombie genre, which you can read here.

The big problem I find with most zombie books is that that’s all the story is really about: zombies attacking humanity and how humanity fights back, kills them for good, and ends up winning. End of story. This is fine as a story premise, except that it’s been done so many times, not just in books, but in movies, comic books, as well as various other forms of media. For me the unique zombie story is one that has an interesting, captivating story in a world where there are zombies.

Enter Mira Grant.

Mira Grant is the pseudonym of Seanan McGuire. Seven years ago she came up with an idea for a zombie book that was a small idea that became a big one, then a trilogy. The first book, Feed, was released in 2010 and was nominated for a Hugo Award. The second book, Deadline, was released in 2011 and received just as much support and good press as its predecessor. The final book in the trilogy, Blackout, was released just this week and has already been getting lots of coverage and hurrahs from fans.

So the complete trilogy has been released, and it honestly feels more like one long book, making it the perfect time to check this series out and give it a read.